love and loss
by kagome04
Summary: Bruce is injured and needs physical therapy. he falls in love with his physical therapist and they plan a life together. But how will Bruce react when tragedy strikes? How will it change him forever? My OC rating is just to be safe!
1. Chapter 1

He had been at the warehouse investigating the case because of the clues; the clues had led him there. They had prepared him for what he might find their but they had not prepared him for this. The man was huge. He reminded him Bane; he had the same height and build. It terrified him, although e would admit it, even the thought of Bane-of what he had done to him terrified him. That's why it happened because he couldn't think straight couldn't anticipate the next move and so it happened. The man took him down easily throwing him between one wall and the next like he was a ragdoll. Eventually when he was done with him he threw him straight through a wall. He tried to get up to stand but he couldn't move at all. It's alright he thought as long as I stay conscious all I have to do is stay conscious. However, the man had other plans. He came out of the building through the big hole in the wall and knocked the dark knight out.

When he regained consciousness the first thing he noticed was the pain. He was in excruciating pain which seemed to be emanating from his back. Oh my God my back… he thought. It must be broken I wouldn't be in this much pain if it wasn't. Even though he was in so much pain and felt extremely weak he still tried to stand but found that he could not. In fact he found that he had very little strength and could barely move. He decided he needed to call for help.

He felt around for his communicator but couldn't find it. In fact his entire utility belt was gone. How on earth was ever going to contact anybody now? He felt himself beginning to panic. How was he going to get out of here if he couldn't contact anybody for help? He couldn't get out of here himself he could barely move. Which meant he was completely at his mercy which meant- No don't think like that! He decided to push the panicky thoughts away and instead try to concentrate on figuring out where he was and how he could get out of here. He just didn't know how he would manage an escape in his current state.

Just then he heard some movement off to his right and saw the man approaching him. Batman was terrified he saw him and tried to move away but he could not move. The man approached him picked him up by the shirt and appeared to be studying him. Batman just stayed limp there was nothing he could do anyway he was too weak.

"You're awake." He said simply. "Good" he said and dropped Batman back to the ground and left the room.

I have got to get out of here! He thought but he didn't know how he couldn't even move or stand up and there was no way to contact anybody.

A little while passed and the man did not come back in. In fact no one had even bothered to come in and check on him.

Thank God for small favors. He thought.

Suddenly he heard a crash and the sound of glass breaking then all of a sudden there was someone in the room with him. He could tell there was even though it was pitch black in the room. The next thing he heard was music to his hears.

"Batman? Batman? can you hear me?" It was Nightwing's voice. He had never been happier to see him then he was right at that moment. How had he found him? How had he even known he was in trouble?

"Nightwing?" he queried he was surprised at how weak his voice sounded

"I'm here Batman everything's going to be alright."

"My back-I think my back is broken."

"It's alright we are going to get you back home and then we will check everything out. Can you stand?"

Batman shook his head no. Hell he could barely even move.

"Alright then hold on and I will get you out of here."

"The guy, the big guy, did you take care of him where is he?"

"Yah I took care of him don't worry."

Batman smiled. It was amazing how much Nightwing's confidence in his abilities had grown in the past few years.

"Let's get you up." Nightwing said and went to lift Batman up so that he had one of Batman's arms slung over his shoulder and was using Nightwing's other arm to support himself. It hurt like hell to stand up but he tried not to scream. After all Nightwing was doing his best. When they got outside Batman saw the Batmobile waiting for them. How had Nightwing found _that?_

"You found the Batmobile?" he asked

"Yah I just activated the GPS tracking system you had on it."

"Oh." He said surprised truthfully he hadn't even remembered where he parked the Batmobile.

"Alright easy there" Nightwing said as he eased Batman into the Batmobile.

"We will be home in no time and I will try to make it as smooth as possible."

Batman nodded. Normally he would be furious about anyone else driving the Batmobile but right now he was too relieved and in too much pain to care. He must have passed out because before he knew it they were home and Nightwing was lifting him out of the Batmobile gingerly.

"Alfred? Alfred? We are home and we need your help Bruce is hurt."

Nightwing lifted Bruce onto the medical table and Alfred came running down the stairs and saw Bruce lying very still on the medical table in obvious pain that was never a good sign.

Bruce grabbed Alfred's hand as he came over to the table to examine him.

"Alfred…" "My back-I think my back is broken, it hurts so much."

Bruce complaining about pain that was never a good sign. He hardly ever complained or even admitted he was in pain. "It's alright Master Bruce you are home now and we are going to take care of you."

"Let's give you some morphine to start." He said and pulled out a needle and injected it Into Bruce's arm. Bruce not refusing pain killers as he usually did another bad sign. He must really be in pain. Alfred thought maybe his back really is broken.

Bruce was thankful for the painkillers he had been in excruciating pain ever since he woke up.

Alfred tried to roll him over to examine his back and Bruce screamed. "Oh my God Alfred thought this is really really bad." Alfred noticed Dick standing next to the medical table completely still and silent ready to jump in and help at a moment's notice. Even he looked nervous.

All of a sudden Bruce felt Alfred inject something else in his arm then he began to feel drowsy and realized Alfred must have drugged him and then everything went black.

"This must be really bad Alfred." Dick said

"Yes sir it certainly is." "Let us examine him though in order to find out how bad." Dick nodded. "Would you help me roll him over so I can examine his back?" Dick nodded again. Alfred began to touch and probe Bruce's back. Even without an x-ray he could tell that at least 3 vertebrae were broken. Alfred shook his head and sighed. He was hoping that it would not be so that Bruce would be wrong but he wasn't wrong.

Alfred looked at Dick and noticed that he was looking at him as if he was waiting for an answer.

"There are at least 3 vertebrae broken. He will have to have an x-r ay or scan of some sort to see if there are anymore or if there is any spinal cord damage."

Dick looked shocked and horrified. He hadn't been expecting Bruce to be right.

"Alright well what do we do now?" he asked

"We must get him in for an X-ray."

"Alright well how are we going to do that?"

"Master Bruce recently purchased an X-ray machine." "All we need to do is get Ms. Thompkins over here to perform and read it."

"Wait-when did Bruce purchase an x-ray machine?"

"Recently, just last month."

"Oh" Dick nodded surprised. He really needed to come over more often.

"If I call Ms. Leslie will you be able to go and pick her up?"

"Yes of course."

"Alright"

Alfred called Leslie who insisted on driving herself even though it was late at night.

A half an hour later she arrived and was led down to the cave where Bruce was.

"Oh Bruce…" she said and looked as if she was about to cry.

"How did this happen?"

"We don't really know."

"He didn't radio in when he was supposed to so Tim called me and I went looking for him and I found him like this."

Leslie nodded." Alright Dick I will need you to lift him up and place him on the table for the x-ray but be very careful we do not want to injure his back further." Dick nodded and did as he was told. "Alfred is he out?" "I mean is he sedated?" "Yes miss quite heavily in fact." "That's good he is going to need to be for this."

Leslie read the x- rays and found that he did in fact have 3 fractured vertebrae but his spinal cord was not damaged. Dick and Alfred both breathed a sigh of relief." However" Leslie said. "He is going to have to keep these vertebrae still and stable for at least 6 weeks. That means no walking and he will need extensive physical therapy afterwards." Dick and Alfred nodded.

They both thanked Leslie and walked her out then they returned to the medical bay to check on Bruce. Alfred had sedated him heavily so he would be out for several more hours.

"Sir I was wondering if you would not mind, would you bring him up to his bedroom?" "I would rather he wake up there than in the cave."

"Of course Alfred"

When Bruce woke up he was extremely groggy. He noticed several things right away. One, he was in his own bedroom, two, it was daylight, three, he was hooked up to an IV which he assumed was feeding him morphine, and four, Dick was sitting next to him in a chair sleeping. How long did Alfred knock me out for? He thought

He tried to sit up but felt a surge of pain as he did so he decided to just lie back down and stay still.

"Bruce you are awake." He heard Dick say.

"Did I wake you?" he asked

"No."

"How are you feeling?" Dick asked

"Alright, a little groggy" "How long was I out for?"

"About 9 hours." "Are you in any pain?"

"No only when I try to sit up."

"Yah about that…" Dick trailed off "I think I should wait for Alfred to talk to you."

"Talk to me about what? What's going on?"

"I just think I should wait for Alfred." Was all Dick would say. "I think I hear him coming now." "Alfred!"

"Yes Master Dick?" "Oh Master Bruce you are awake."

"yes, what's going on?" "Dick won't tell me anything."

"Yes well…" "Alfred said hesitating.

"I'm afraid you were right sir your back is broken however there has been no damage to the spinal cord."

Bruce sighed and rolled his eyes. Not again. He thought although it had been a few years since the Bane incident. "How bad is it?"

"You have 3 fractured vertebrae."

Bruce nodded "and what does that mean?"

"Well, miss leslie said that we need to keep them still and stable for at least 6 weeks which means you will not be able to do any of your normal activities and that after that you will need physical therapy."

"6 weeks?" "I can't be out of commission for 6 weeks!"

"I am afraid you are going to be out of commission for much longer than that sir."

Bruce sighed and shook his head. How could this be happening again? It must be a dream some kind of really bad dream. Except that it was real. That was the worst part.

Dick put a hand on his shoulder. "it's alright Bruce it's going to be ok I am going to stay here and help out so you won't have to worry about anything."

"No Dick I can't let you do that-" but Dick put a hand up to silence him. "And this time I am not taking no for an answer." Bruce sighed he supposed there was no use fighting it. but more than six weeks how was he supposed to do nothing for more than 6 weeks? He didn't know what he would do he would go crazy.

"Bruce for right now all you can do is stay in bed and rest and don't even try and get up alright? Just lie still and let the morphine do its job."

Bruce nodded. After all what more could he do?


	2. Chapter 2

A little while later Dick left to get stuff from his apartment and Alfred left to do his usual household duties but left Bruce a comm. Link so he could call him if he needed anything.

Leslie came over a little while later to check on Bruce and seeing that he was doing well. She left and went back to her clinic.

After 3 weeks of being confined to bed Bruce was finally allowed to use a wheelchair to move around the manor. He was exhilarated. He had thought he was going to go insane during those 3 weeks. He was still in a lot of pain but was no longer on morphine instead he was on oral painkillers which he tried not to take as often as possible. He had a lot of talks with Dick over those three weeks and it seemed Dick didn't mind taking up the mantle of the batman. In fact it seemed like he kind of enjoyed it. Tim loved having Dick around. Bruce had to admit it was nice to have his entire family around him again. He felt whole with them all around.

Leslie came to check on him a couple of times a week. Bruce was eager to start physical therapy but Leslie told him each time that he wouldn't be able to start physical therapy for at least three more weeks. Although at first he was ecstatic about being able to be out of bed and move around the manor he quickly found himself bored out of his mind. He never realized how little there was to do around the manor. I mean how many times could you read a book or watch television? He attempted to go down to the cave a couple of times to try and help Dick out but each time Dick shooed him away. He wouldn't even let him see what he was working on! The nerve! Most days he spent just sitting around the manor doing nothing; sometimes he would read a book or talk to Alfred while he was cleaning but there were only so many books to read and things to talk about. He tried to talk to Dick and Tim but they were always so busy they didn't have much time for him.

6 weeks after the accident Bruce was finally able to start physical therapy. He was still in a wheelchair just to be safe. It wasn't that he couldn't walk Leslie said it was just that walking may put too much stress on his joints and she didn't want to take the chance.

Leslie had recommended someone by the name of Jennifer Goodwin. Bruce of course trusted Leslie's opinion above all else but he still ran a background check on her. It came up clean in fact the girl had very impressive credentials. No wonder Leslie recommended her she was clearly the best in the city. She was located in downtown Gotham in the more prosperous district. Leslie recommended physical therapy twice a week for two months. He felt bad being such a burden on Alfred but he supposed he didn't really have much choice.

The first time he met her he was so stunned by how beautiful she was he could barely speak. He was instantly attracted to her. Sure he had seen pictures of her on his computer but they did not do her justice at all.

"Hello Mr. Wayne I'm Jennifer Goodwin."

"He-hello" Bruce managed to stutter.

"Master Bruce I am going to do some shopping in town call me when you are done."

"Alright Alfred"

"Mr. Wayne Leslie Thompkins told me all about you so I am all up to date on you and your situation."

"Alright then let's get started."

"Hold on a second. First I need to evaluate you."

"Alright"

"Let's see what your range of motion is."

"Alright I'm afraid it's not very good I haven't been able to do anything for six weeks"

"Yes well that is alright it is expected after an injury such as yours you need to keep the vertebrae stable for as long as possible before physical therapy is attempted."

"Yes well I'm kind of sick of not doing anything so if you could help me out by getting me to walk again as soon as possible that would be great"

"Mr. Wayne physical therapy cannot be rushed your body will recover when it is ready not before. You cannot push such things."

"Could you just tell me when I will be able to walk again please?"

"I would say conservatively about another month."

"Another month?" Bruce said extremely disappointed

"Yes well you will be walking in here but I would recommend not walking on a regular basis for another month."

Bruce sighed. He was extremely tired of not being able to do anything and was hoping that they could just push this thing along but he guessed he would have to just get used to not do anything for a little bit longer. He felt so bad being a burden on everybody but there was nothing he could really do about it.

After assessing his range of motion and what he was currently capable of doing Jennifer suggested that they got started. They started off simply she gave Bruce a few stretches to do that would Bruce strengthen his back since the muscles had begun to atrophy in the last six weeks. She also showed him how to do them and had him do them a few times to make sure he was doing them right. Then she massaged his back which was amazing. It felt so good Bruce never wanted her to stop. Then she did some kind of weird ultrasound technology thing on his back which felt good to. Before he knew the hour was up.

"Alright Mr. Wayne I will see you Wednesday at the same time alright?"

"Sounds good oh and Miss Goodwin? I assume it is Miss Goodwin right?

"Yes it is"

"You can call me Bruce."

"Alright Bruce you can call me Jennifer"

"Alright then I had better call Alfred and let him know I am done. Oh and Jennifer it was very nice to meet you."

"It was very nice to meet you to Bruce." She said and smiled. She had heard rumors about how charming Bruce Wayne was but she had never expected them to be true. As she watched him leave her office she couldn't help but feel a little bit attracted to him.

While Bruce was on the way home he couldn't help but smile. He was absolutely smitten with his physical therapist. He couldn't stop thinking about her for the rest of the day. Even though he knew nothing would ever happen because she would probably never get involved with a client he couldn't start fantasizing about it. He absolutely could not wait to see her again on Wednesday. With her as my therapist these two months are going to fly by he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

"So how was therapy?" Dick asked the next day while they were having lunch. He had been so busy what with being Batman and all that he had barely seen Bruce and wanted to check up on him and how he was doing.

"Fine, it was fine" He said. He could not contain the smile that burst forth across his face.

"What was that for?"

"What?"

"What was that smile for?"

"Oh nothing." He said trying desperately to hide the smile.

"It seems Master Bruce is a bit smitten with his physical therapist."

"Oh really?" Dick said raising an eyebrow

"I am not smitten!" Bruce insisted vigorously.

"Is she cute? Is she like really really cute?" Dick asked.

"I don't know I didn't really notice I guess she is."

"Oh my God you are so smitten!" Dick said and began laughing hysterically as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"It is not that funny and I am not smitten!" Bruce said emphatically.

"Oh you are so the smitten kitten!" Dick said

Bruce threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. He decided it was time to fight back and defend himself.

"Look, she was very nice and very attractive so I noticed her alright that is all!"

"Sure sure" Dick said with a smirk. "What's her name?"

"Jennifer Goodwin" he said and smiled again. Damn! He thought. Maybe he really was smitten.

Dick was just laughing.

"What's so funny?" Bruce growled. He was getting annoyed at all these insinuations.

"You, I've never seen you like this over a woman before."

"Look she is my PT alright? Nothing is going to happen."

"That's never stopped you before." Dick said smirking.

Bruce just rolled his eyes and left the room.

"On Wednesday when Bruce went for physical therapy he couldn't stop staring at her. My God she was beautiful. He wanted so badly to just turn on the charm big time and ask her out but he knew she would probably just say no so he just stayed quiet.

They did what she said would be their regular routine. She helped him stretch and did some exercises with him. Then she massaged his back (which felt amazing) and did some ultrasound therapy. When he stood up to get ready to go there was a spark like lightening between them. He felt it, he knew she must have felt it too but would probably ignore it. He felt this sudden urge to kiss her but, feeling that that would be in bad taste, he resisted the urge.

"Have a good day Bruce" God even her voice was beautiful. Wow I really am smitten. He thought.

"Have a good day Jennifer." He said with that great smile he only reserved for special people and special occasions.

"See you on Monday."

"Yes you will."

As he left she couldn't help but watch him walk away. Oh God oh God she thought. She had almost kissed him before. What was she doing? What was she thinking? She was falling for a patient! Oh God oh God she could not fall for a patient. What was she going to do on Monday?"

When Alfred came to pick up Bruce he was humming.

"And how was therapy today sir?"

"Fine, it was fine Alfred thank you for asking."

"I'm sure it was." Alfred said sarcastically

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Sir I understand your attraction to Miss Goodwin. She is very beautiful but I am afraid you are going farther than that. I am afraid you are falling for her and I just do not think that it is a good idea. Sir I am just worried about it and about you."

"Alfred she is my physical therapist. I am her patient. That is all there is too it I swear."

Alfred sighed and rolled his eyes as he led Bruce to the car.

"If you say so sir."

"Alfred I swear!"

But Alfred merely shook his head and got in the car.

Bruce realized that the reason he was denying this so vehemently was because it was true. He was falling for her. Oh God he couldn't fall for her. He didn't have room in his life for her-for any woman. He didn't have room in his life for a relationship. Oh God what was he going to do. He supposed he could find a new physical therapist. However he didn't really want to. He had researched her and she was absolutely the best in the city. No he would just resist all temptation and just ignore any urge he had to do anything. He could do that right? He would have to because he could not fall for his physical therapist. Damn! He was falling for his physical therapist.


End file.
